Hey folks,

Missed the campaign? It's not too late!

You can still make a pledge choosing one of the reward levels RIGHT HERE!

(also right here, in case you need to copy/paste the link into your browser:)
https://the-expanse-transport-union.backerkit.com/survey_stores

It does look a little different, so feel free to come back to the "Pledge Levels" page here to see all the cool stuff you can get to help you decide. Once you choose a Pledge, and enter your email, you'll be taken directly to the survey questions, followed by the add-ons page to choose any extras and finalize your order. And that's all there is to it!

If you're already a backer, first of all thanks again! and secondly, let your gaming group know they have another shot to pick up some of these incredibly cool new Expanse RPG books and accessories at these special crowdfunding prices!

As a reminder, if you run into trouble with your pledge or survey, please email us at [email protected] and we'll get things sorted out for you. Backerkit doesn't reliably notify us of comments or activity in the community section, so PLEASE email us if you have an issue.


Now lets see if we can unlock that last Stretch Goal!

Hoy Captains! 

Ian here again with your monthly update on The Expanse RPG: Transport Union Edition crowdfunder on Backerkit. The books are coming along well, and we’re still on target to have the books ready for delivery this coming Summer. The core rulebook for The Expanse TUE is already in production, and I expect we might be able to share some sample pages fairly soon. By the time you read this, both Free Navy Conflict and Daemon’s Gambit will also be in production. I’m currently developing the Crew Companion, and that should be ready for editing in a week or so.

A lot of folks have been asking about when the pledge manager is going to close, and we're incredibly close! If you have any last-minute changes you want to make to your pledge, or add any accessories or extra sets of miniatures, get those changes in soon. The deadline for changes to your pledge is April 7th.

 

Today, I’m going to give you a spoiler-free look into Free Navy Conflict, which is covered in the novels Nemesis Games and Babylon’s Ashes.  A good bit of information is available on Backerkit, but I’m going to dive in a little deeper.

From the campaign page:

Free Navy Conflict

Background and adventures for this apocalyptic era of play. The Free Navy Conflict offers an in-depth look at the war that devastated Earth and forever altered humanity’s fate amongst the stars. Inside you’ll find a detailed history of the conflict, from Durate’s betrayal to the effects of the asteroid impact on Earth and the food and infrastructure breakdowns that follow. You’ll also find details on several of the pivotal battles, the eventual surrender of Marco Inaros and the Free Navy, which brought about the formation of the Transport Union. The book is also packed with adventure hooks and GM advice for telling Expanse stories during this tumultuous period. Finally, five independent adventures explore the Free Navy Conflict from both sides. - 128-page softback. UPGRADED TO HARDCOVER

History, Michio believed, was a long list of surprises that seemed inevitable in retrospect.

—Babylon’s Ashes

Chapter 1 opens with a detailed history of the Free Navy conflict—everything you’d want to know about the conflict, from the early plans laid by Marco Inaros and Winston Duarte to the founding of the Transport Union at the end of the conflict. We go into detail on every major battle that takes place, the political machinations of those involved, and the aftermath on Earth and Mars. There is also a section that discusses how your player characters might fit into the conflict. 

 

Chapter 2 offers a wealth of information about the tactics employed by the Free Navy's eight new ships, including the next-generation Corvette-class that was heavily used by the Free Navy. 

 

Chapter 3 explores the complexities of running a series set during wartime. This advice applies not only to the Free Navy conflict but to any ongoing conflict. It also offers some ideas on running large-scale battles. Aside from the ships, this is probably one of my favorite parts of the book. 

 

Following Chapter 3 are five adventures set during the conflict: On the Road with the Triplanetary Band, Whiskey Dangerous, Derelict, Four Card Monte, and A War of Ideas. I’m not going to go into detail about them here so as to avoid spoilers. What I can safely say is that these adventures are not interconnected, but most of them could be fairly easily modified to do so if you prefer. One of them takes place on Earth during the asteroid strikes, and they offer different perspectives, even allowing PCs to be part of the Free Navy. 

 

That about wraps things up for this transmission. I hope you’re as excited as I am to see these books in print! 

~Ian Lemke, The Expanse RPG line developer

Hey folks,

This month we have an update from Chris Pramas, world renowned lover of wargaming and infamous victim of an ancient Egyptian dice rolling curse. (We told him not to touch the canopic jars, but he kept mumbling something about a 2+ invuln save.) Also stick around after the update for a message about how you can help us out at Gen Con this year by volunteering to run games of The Expanse!

Take it away Chris!


Chris Pramas here with an update on the Expanse miniatures. Crowdfunders often have bumps in the road but I’m happy to report that both sets of minis are proceeding smoothly. Hudson and the Wargames Atlantic crew have been great to work with.

At this stage we are finalizing what each sprue (AKA frame) will look like. For the crew minis, more parts were sculpted than will fit on a sprue (this was intentional, so we’d have options). In the crowdfunder, we’d promise 6 bodies per sprue (18 minis/box) but Hudson was able to get another on there, so it’ll be 7 per sprue (21/box). Here’s the crew sprue as it stands.

The crew box will include 25mm round bases. And not just your standard flat black bases either. Wargames Atlantic has sculpted bases that look like the decking of ship or space station. Check ‘em out!

The ships were a little easier, because they are not mix and match pieces like the crew. Each mini is of a specific model of ship. Assembly for these will be dead easy, as they are only 1-3 pieces each, plus a flight stand. Here’s a shot of what assembled ships will look like.

Once the sprues design is finished, Wargames Atlantic will then send them off for tooling, the process which creates the molds for production. In the meantime, we will design the boxes. I’ll check in again when we are close to production.


Thanks Chris!

Say, are you going to Gen Con this year? Want some help paying for your convention badge? Want to run games of The Expanse? Check out this post from Jonesy over at the Ronin Roundtable Blog for details, and then get in touch with him at [email protected], or drop by the Atomic Think Tank! 

Fun fact: Before coming onboard as our resident VTT virtuoso, Jonesy also used to be a member of the old Freebooter program running games for us at conventions like Gen Con!